Mr. Finch's Birthday!

Birthdays are more than just another day or candles on the cake. It's an opportunity to look back at the last year and our lives so far and reflect on all we've accomplished. Be proud of where you are today and how you got there! It's a new start, a new year to decide who you are going to be and how you're going to progress.

In Twenty Eight years Mr. Finch has:

Fulfilled Countless Church Callings

Played multiple Sports: Learned to love basketball

Earned his Eagle Scout

Developed life time friendships with wonderful people

Graduated High School with Honors

Graduated from Seminary

Served a Two Year Mission to Montreal, Canada

Learned French

Taught himself Guitar

Earned his Associate Degree from SLCC

Received a Full-tuition Academic Scholarship to USU

Received a Privately-funded Art Scholarship based off his portfolio

Become an Excellent Artist, Designer, Oil painter, Ceramics, Print-Maker

Practices excellent Money management principles enabling him to support himself at USU

Maintains a High GPA and has been featured in countless Class Showcases

Created a New Eternal Family by being Sealed in the Temple 

Much, Much, More

He Continues to make his families and me very proud and happy he is in our lives. 

I'm so happy we got to celebrate his life so far and look forward to the next year!

Brandon at 28 is going to be a Good Year!

Here's how we celebrated the BIG 28!

Movie Money Ball with Peanut M&M's and Crunch N' Munch ~ Sandwich from Old Grist Bread Co ~ Cinnamon Toast Crunch for Breakfast *Added bonus it had a comic book inside:) * ~ Logan Hero, BBQ Baked Lays & Pudding Pack for lunch ~ Dinner at Factory Pizzeria ~ Caramel Pecan Silk Supreme Pie ~ Modern Family Episodes ~ Spa Night ~ New Pants and DVD's ~ 

Birthday Songs and Wishes from Family and Friends

I hope to do my part to make the next year an exciting year! I love my Mr. Finch. 

Happy Birthday Babe!

Happy Honeymoon

Throughout the wedding planning process Brandon and I had to keep reminding ourselves when we were stressed that sandy beaches and warm sun awaited us at the end of the wedding planning. We had such a blast and we're so lucky we had the opportunity to have such a spectacular start to our marriage.

Western Caribbean Cruise: 7 Day, 4 ports, Norwegian Cruise Line

In case you missed the detail that most found so funny, we left for our honeymoon the day of our wedding. Red Eye Flight.A completely packed red eye flight!  That's right-our Wedding night. 

Marriage-Pictures-Luncheon-Setup-Reception-Red Eye Flight! 

(Thanks to Matt & Kate for the drive to the airport!)

We left SLC airport at 1am. (Next time you see us ask about Brandon being blind according to the airline!-Fun Story) Got to Atlanta, made our connection (Luckily!)  and arrived in New Orleans at 9:30am. Taxi to the Port. Stood in Lines. Boarded the Ship and waited for our rooms to be available-exhausted and ready for a shower from the humidity. Here's a hammed up picture as we waited to board.

And of course we made the best of the buffet. Notice my hair? Yeah. As soon as I got in the airport metal detector I had to quickly remove all the pins. There was never time or energy to fix it.

We were given the all clear to head to our rooms-shower at last! Well not yet. We realized we needed our luggage. We napped restlessly as we waited a few more hours for the delivery of our bags. Showered, emergency drill complete, a boat full of possibilities...nap time. We were so exhausted. The previous 48 hours we'd both clocked only 2-3 hours of sleep. We headed to the buffet for dinner-too tired to dress up for the dining rooms. We decided to watch a movie-or at least the first 5 minutes of it. We both fell asleep-good thing we had the following day at sea.  

Sea Day:

Today was magical, Why? Because we were privileged enough to witness "Magic with Jorgos!" A Greek magician that was, well, interesting. The preview clip of his act was much more entertaining than the odd sleight of hand tricks we were dazzled with. It makes a good story though. We had dinner in the Garden Dining Room. Candlelight made the atmosphere cozy and intimate. We had a wonderful three course meal and then walked around the deck help our stomachs settle. It had been overcast all day and a storm was just rolling in-lighting and thunder in the distance. We were glad to have a relaxing day to catch up on some much needed sleep. 

Costa Maya, Mexico
Costa Maya was a little bit of a shocker to Brandon and I. For our first stop on our dream honeymoon we were disappointed. Guards with Machine Guns were everywhere. It was not lush or tropical-just the opposite. It looked like a hurricane and fire had ripped through the area.  The sun was no where to be seen on the very cloudy and gray day. Neither of us are very good at just hopping in a taxi with no idea where we're headed. No one from the cruise was leaving this small shopping area. We started on foot asking guards that spoke zero English where the beach was. We got some points and headed out. Bad idea. We were attacked by mosquitoes-My forehead had a swollen bump on it from one of the bites! We made it to the beach. Ate lunch, snorkeled. We caught a cab on the way back. What a day. Later we discovered we both had been completely fried and we had put on so much sunscreen! Our shoulders were so red! What a way to start out the trip eh?

Roaton, Honduras

Hello-Beautiful! What a breath of fresh air when we stepped of the boat in this hill-side retreat. This is what we had been waiting for! We headed inland and swam with some dolphins. It has been a dream of Brandon's for so long! The Lagoon we were in was gorgeous. After we headed to a beach. It was so beautiful! We had some local lunch and the best lemonade drink we've ever had. It is indescribable! We couldn't get enough of it. We snorkeled, Enjoyed the sun with our shirts on and found refuge against a rock. This day was perfect. 

 

Belize City, Belize

You better Belize it! We had a lot of fun in Belize. The locals were so fun and so energetic about us being there. We took a bus through the country. I am amazed at how blessed we are to live in the country we do and for the blessings we enjoy. We hiked through some jungle and went cave tubing! It was a cool experience. We unfortunately didn't have a waterproof camera so we don't have pics of our cave adventure. 

Cozumel, Mexico 

Brandon wanted dolphins, I wanted ruins. That's what we did. We headed out to Tulum. The ruins sit on top of a cliff that overlooks the most beautiful beach. We'd go back to just there! It was the hottest and most humid day ever! Our sunscreen was dripping down our faces. Sounds fun right?! We were glad we went and glad to be back in our air-conditioned room.  

Sea Day:

I love to sleep in-I never do at home but thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to on the cruise. We made our way up to breakfast and had omelets made. It was pretty sunny so we ventured up to the sun deck to "layout". Of course we were still burned so we were covered up besides our legs. We lasted 30 min. We relaxed all day and began packing up so we didn't feel rushed. We ordered room service for dinner-Salads, Pizza, Wings and Desserts:sadly the pizza was far from tasty. One more thing that makes the trip memorable. 

Flowers on the cruise:

New Orleans, Louisiana:

We stayed one day in New Orleans-French Market District.  The architecture is beautiful and there were art galleries everywhere, including street vendors. We went to Cafe Du Monde, I was so pleased to visit, the Food Network always showcases it. We devoured our Beignets and Chocolate Milk. So satisfying on a hot, humid day. We checked into our beautiful hotel, napped and then headed out for dinner. We found ourselves on Bourbon Street, Sunday, 4pm. I did not expect to see such filth. Everyone was drunk, screaming from balcony's. It was disappointing. We quickly made our way off the street. I wanted to experience some New Orleans seafood-we ended up at the Hard Rock Cafe. Brandon can always eat a burger.  I attempted the only seafood option i found on the menu-should have had a burger with Brandon. The city is unique   but quite rundown and definitely has a dark side to it. We had an unusual run in with our housekeeper the next morning, hailed a taxi and headed to the airport. 

Salt Lake City, Utah

We arrived at 9:30pm. Brandon's friends had thoughtfully surprised us with a Hotel Room on our wedding day. Our day was scheduled so closely that using it wasn't an option. We moved the reservation to the day we got back. It was lovely to take a ride to the hotel (which was beautiful) and have one more night to just rest before returning to real life. We got some delicious food from the bar, showered and slept. 

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and made so many memories and inside jokes that we share together. Someday we'll do it again. Until then we have plenty of adventures to go on a little closer to home and everyday life. I'm so glad we got to celebrate the beginning of our marriage. 

The trip may be over, but the honeymoon isn't!

Logan "Stay"cation

Brandon and I had such a great week! Busy, but great! We were lucky enough to have both his and my parents come visit us and see our apartment. We toured Logan a little bit with them and got to experience some Logan Culture. Take a look at our busy week!

Left to Right Top to Bottom

Cafe Sabor: Delicious Mexican Dishes in Refurbished Train Station (Thanks Finch's!)

Aggie Ice Cream: Brandon Fav-Aggie Blue Mint, Jess Fav: Mint Cookie Fudge

Modern Family: Thanks Brett & Adrianna for inviting us to watch the Premier

Gia's Italian Restaurant:  Lemon Sorbet for palate cleansing was delicious! (Thanks Jaynes'!)

Blueberry Pancakes w/ Cinnamon Syrup

Logan Temple: We walked around the grounds, they were prestine on a gorgeous day!

Gossner Cheese Factory: Quest for squeaky cheese curds. Check out the Cheese Buffet they had inside!

Stylish Fabrics: Walk down memory lane at fabric store my mom went to as a little girl.

USU Museum of Art & Campus Tour:
Comic exhibition, Beautiful Grounds and building architecture around campus.

The Office: Season Premier celebrated with our own UltraFeast.

Ice Cream: We fit in Aggie Ice Cream twice this week and Gossner's for a scoop as well.

Antique Mall: We actually really enjoyed this stop, lots of items that brought back fond memories from our childhoods and quirky items you'd never expect to find.

Center Street Grill: Glad Dad wanted a Hamburger! Great burger & classic diner atmosphere.

Romney Stadium: Homecoming football Game. (Thanks for the ticket Brett & Adrianna!) We won, well for most of the game, just not the part that matters.

We definitely were tourists in Logan this week and had a mini "stay"cation. I needed it. I was able to cross off quite a bit on my "Things to do in Logan" list. The weather was ideal and the company was fantastic. What a way to kick off Fall!

WELCOME TO OUR HOME

Brandon and I are currently hanging our hats together in Logan, Utah. Brandon has one more semester at USU to complete his Bachelors in Graphic Design. He's "lived" up here during the week the past two years. He's never been terribly fond of the place mostly because he hasn't been able to experience it with the constant travel back and forth-i still appreciate his sacrifice to visit me. Hopefully being a little more stationary will give us a chance to love Logan! I've made a list of things we hope to do between homework and dishes-most of them are restaurants exclusive to the area, some school events and hopefully a camping excursion. 

Boxes have been unpacked and kitchen appliances have found very unique homes in our small studio style apartment. We've discovered some very quirky features about our abode. 

• There's a single outlet in the kitchen. In the Corner. 
• The bathroom outlet is joined to the lighting fixture so we have to run an extension cord to the counter top to use it. Pretty Classy. 
• We haven't had air conditioning and are thankful for autumn breezes. Sleeping at 90 degrees is difficult. 
• I have about one foot of counter top space to prep food. 
• Our wireless internet is random at best.
• Moths somehow find their way easily inside.
• There's a technique to flushing our toilet.
• Everything makes noises.
• The Shower is 2'x2'. The Shower head is at Brandon's Chest level. He "manages". 
• There's a very bright security light outside our door-night light is an understatement.  
• There's no space for a kitchen table. Hello living room coffee tables. 

We laugh at all these things but are making mental notes on a "someday" list. Like someday we'll have a garage, air conditioning, and outlets galore. For now, we enjoy the experience are are grateful for the low rent that accompanies our castle. 

Welcome to #11: Top Floor. One Bedroom-Kind of. Hidden Treasure. 

Front Door: I wanted a wreath so badly-our limited budget allowed for this $5 beauty that we added some berries and a letter I previously had. 

Living Room:

We are not really supposed to hang pictures and we'd like to get as much of our deposit back. The side blank wall is depressing, I know, we've looked for a large piece that would justify a hole in the wall but haven't found anything that quite fits. We're so lucky to have any furniture! We thankfully were able to borrow the couch from Brandon's Sister, Stacy~With out it all we'd have is my enormous & odd lovesac. The large landscape was hung in Brandon's Grandpa's home. It has a lot of memories of their home and I'm happy to have it in mine. 

Kitchen:

I love my menu board that my sister Holly gave to me as a wedding present. I know Brandon doesn't much care about what's for dinner tomorrow but I love it. I've been collecting kitchen things for years, I love dishes. My family has supported my love with beautiful kitchen accessories for bdays and Christmas gifts.  We also received some beautiful things as wedding presents. It's small-but we get the job done. 

The Bathroom:

I loved this shower curtain, Brandon conceded his dislike for yellow for a short time. Can ya tell I love white! On our honeymoon Brandon got a real kick out of the towel folding. Any origami towel creation is entirely of his making.  

Our Study:

These shelves are across from the bedroom area and hang above our desks. I had hoped to house more of my dishes here but the shelves are not quite wide enough. We didn't really bring any books with us for the short time we're here so we've filled them with anything we could come up with. 

The Bedroom:

Someday Brandon will have a King-size bed. For now, he hangs over the edge and there's just not quite enough room for his long legs-but our tiny apartment couldn't quite handle that type of luxury. I wanted white bedding and my parents generously gifted us our bedding as a wedding gift. Again, grateful for furniture! Brandon's mom Cindy stored these beautiful pieces and has let us use them. Everything fits snug & for now-it's perfect. 

We don't have a guest bedroom but we'd happily host visitors. We'll give you some homemade ice cream for your journey up here! We love how close to everything we are here in Logan. You can see the Temple over the tree line on our "balcony". We're grateful to be here-and happy it's a short adventure. This is the View outside the Living Room window, better than a brick wall right!

We're here. We're Home. Come, Make yourself comfortable.